Tech's Russia problem: Next steps

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11/02/2017 10:00 AM EDT

Presented by Intel

With help from John Hendel, Steven Overly and Ashley Gold

TECH’S RUSSIA PROBLEM: NEXT STEPS — Facebook, Twitter and Google made it through a hearing triple-header on Russian interference this week — but they left plenty of questions unanswered. Here’s what to keep an eye on as the investigation continues:

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— A joint report? House Intelligence Committee ranking member Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) urged the three tech giants to produce a joint report offering a more comprehensive examination of how Russian-linked actors took advantage of features across their platforms. “It’s very difficult for us, without access to their data, without access to the expertise, to understand how the Russians used these platforms interchangeably and what the sum total of this was,” Schiff said. Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) even asked the companies to signal if they needed a special “antitrust waiver” in order to work with one another to tackle this issue. The firms indicated that they are already sharing information about possible threats.

— More ad releases to come: House Intel has committed to releasing all 3,000 Russian-linked Facebook ads to the public, along with associated targeting information, and that could come as soon as the next few weeks. See a sample of the ads, here. Google and Twitter also indicated that they had no objections to the committee doing the same with Russian-linked content from their platforms.

— Jury’s out on user notifications: The internet companies were cagey about notifying users who have been exposed to Russian-linked content. There are “technical challenges” with that kind of scenario, Facebook General Counsel Colin Stretch said. All three firms pledged to consider some kind of disclosure but didn’t offer a concrete commitment.

— It definitely ain’t over: The companies unanimously said their internal investigations into Russian interference are ongoing and could not say with certainty that the full scope of it has been captured by the accounts and content they’ve identified so far. “I think we’ve got a lot more work to do,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said at the close of the Senate Intel hearing.

— What about regulation? We’re watching to see if more lawmakers support the Honest Ads Act ( S. 1989 (115)), a bill from Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Warner and John McCain (R-Ariz.), which would require more transparency for online political ads. When asked about next policy steps, Schiff said: “Congress is not going to regulate an algorithm … so there are limits to what we could feasibly do.” But Former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is among those floating the idea of a “ public interest algorithm” that could offer more transparency into social networks’ internal workings.

OF COURSE, FB HAD EARNINGS — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg opened a quarterly earnings call on Wednesday by telling investors that the company's efforts to combat election interference and other nefarious acts will have a "significant impact" on the social network's bottom line, Steven reports. "Protecting our community is more important than maximizing our profits," he said. Zuckerberg also told investors the company is working with Congress on legislation to make advertising more transparent.

AND TIM COOK CHIMED IN— "I don't believe the big issue are ads from foreign governments," Apple CEO Tim Cook said of social media in an NBC interview that aired Wednesday. "I believe that's like .1 percent of the issue. The bigger issue is that some of these tools are used to divide people, to manipulate people, to get fake news to people in broad numbers, so to influence their thinking. This to me is the one through 10 issue." Cook also stressed the need for tax reform.

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING and welcome to Morning Tech, where we finally watched Stranger Things and now we get what all the fuss is about. Send your tech and telecom tips to lzhou@politico.com and @liszhou. Catch the rest of the team’s contact info after Quick Downloads.

IAB HUDDLE TODAY — The Interactive Advertising Bureau will bring its board of directors to Washington today for a series of meetings with regulators and lawmakers on topics including online political ad disclosures, tax reform and broadband investment, the group said, Steven reports. The 39-member board includes executives from NBCUniversal, CBS Interactive, The Washington Post and NewsCorp, as well as major internet companies. They'll meet with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and FTC acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen, as well as Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.), among others.

FIRST IN MT: COALITION PRESSES STATE AGs ON SINCLAIR — The group fighting the Sinclair-Tribune merger wants state attorneys general to get in on the action. The Coalition to Save Local Media, which counts DISH, the American Cable Association and One America News Network among its members, is sending letters today to California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the AGs for several other states with stations involved in the deal. The coalition wants the AGs to join the Justice Department’s review of the merger. “Sinclair and Tribune have yet to demonstrate a single consumer benefit that would result from the merger,” the letter to Becerra says. “The truth is that as a result of this merger, consumers would have fewer choices for local content and be forced to pay higher prices.”

— In other Sinclair news: In a statement as part of his company’s earnings release Wednesday, Sinclair executive chairman David Smith praised the FCC for “recognizing that the competitive marketplace has changed” as the agency prepares to vote to eliminate or relax media ownership rules next month. Remember, Sinclair could benefit from the deregulatory proposals as part of its $3.9 billion bid to buy Tribune. “[The FCC’s] review also recognizes that the current rules no longer reflect the realities of today’s media landscape and consumer viewing habits,” Smith said. “We applaud the FCC’s action to level the playing field, especially in light of emerging technologies and consolidation in the telecom and cable industries.”

— And Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) sent his letter to Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley last night (confirming our earlier reporting) with significant House Democratic backing. It asks several questions about how Sinclair’s Tribune merger would affect local news and about the broadcaster’s contact with FCC officials. Some of the 49 signatories include Reps. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) and John Lewis (D-Ga.).

FCC ACTION ON AUTO SPECTRUM? — Republican Commissioner Mike O’Rielly and Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel were quick to call for FCC action on the 5.9 GHz spectrum band after reports surfaced that the Trump administration is backing away from a mandate requiring vehicle-to-vehicle communications technology in new cars. That technology would use spectrum in the 5.9 band, but the cable and tech industries have argued those airwaves should be opened up for Wi-Fi use. O’Rielly tweeted it’s “Time for @FCC to reallocate — include unlicensed services in 5.9 GHz,” while Rosenworcel wrote it’s time for the agency to look again at the spectrum.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR — The current and former heads of Equifax are set to testify alongside ex-Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer before the Senate Commerce Committee next Wednesday about the colossal data breaches that affected both companies, Pro Cyber’s Martin Matishak reports. The committee also made the SESTA ( S. 1693 (115)) markup official. It’s scheduled for the same day.

TELECOM PROVIDERS FEELING THE PAIN — That’s the message 39 senators sent the FCC in a letter, referring to the budget shortfall facing the agency’s universal service subsidies. Pai is conscious of this “pickle,” he told lawmakers last week, saying he was hopeful of taking action by year’s end.

SILICON VALLEY MUST-READS

— How DARPA helped give rise to today’s self-driving giants: “Many of the engineers involved in those [DARPA] contests went on to launch autonomous vehicle startups that are now steering the future of transportation,” Bloomberg reports.

— Alphabet’s Eric Schmidt presses U.S. on AI: “Speaking at a tech summit organized by national security think tank CNAS, Schmidt predicted that America’s lead in the field would continue ‘over the next five years’ before China catches up ‘extremely quickly,’” The Verge reports.

— More Uber-Softbank drama: “Uber’s effort to close a multibillion-dollar investment by SoftBank is on the rocks as co-founder Travis Kalanick tussles with fellow board members over the limits of his power at the ride-hailing giant, people familiar with the matter said,” The Wall Street Journal said.

Tech supports lawsuit blocking DACA repeal: “More than 100 companies — including many of the tech industry's biggest players such as Google and IBM — are supporting a California lawsuit that seeks to block President Donald Trump's efforts to repeal the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program,” Steven reports.